Rice–Texas football rivalry
The Rice–Texas football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Rice Owls and Texas Longhorns.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Texas leads the series 75–21–1 through the 2023 season.[8] The teams were conference rivals for 81 seasons in the Southwest Conference from 1915 through 1995. The Longhorns have largely dominated the series, as Rice has won only twice since 1960. 17 of the 21 Rice wins came between 1930 and 1960, a span over which it enjoyed a slight edge over the Longhorns.
| First meeting | October 17, 1914 Texas 41, Rice 0 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | September 2, 2023 Texas 37, Rice 10 |
| Next meeting | TBA |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 97 |
| All-time series | Texas leads, 75–21–1[1] |
| Largest victory | Texas, 59–0 (1915) |
| Longest win streak | Texas, 28 (1966–1993) |
| Current win streak | Texas, 16 (1995–present) |
Game results edit
| Rice victories | Texas victories | Tie games |
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John F. Kennedy speech edit
On September 12, 1962, Rice Stadium hosted the speech in which President John F. Kennedy challenged Americans to meet his goal, set the previous year, to send a man to the Moon by the end of the decade. In the speech, he used a reference to the Rice-Texas rivalry to help frame his rhetoric:
But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.[9]
The soundbite proved to be rather prescient, as unranked and winless Rice would play undefeated #1 Texas to a 14 to 14 tie just over a month later in Houston. Rice would get their first win since the quote a few seasons later, upsetting #5 Texas in Austin. Following that victory however, Texas would win the next 28 games in the series, which is tied for the ninth-longest steak in NCAA Division I history and tied for the sixth-longest between conference opponents. Rice would finally snap the streak in 1994 with a 19–17 victory. Two seasons later, the Southwest Conference dissolved and the rivals joined separate conferences (Texas to the Big 12 and Rice to the WAC). The teams have played intermittently since 1995, with Texas winning each of the 15 contests as of 2023.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Winsipedia – Rice Owls vs. Texas Longhorns football series history". Winsipedia.
- ^ Bill Durnal (October 16, 1938). "Southwest's Most Bitter Feud Due Saturday in U.T.-Rice Tilt". Austin American-Statesman. p. 10. Retrieved September 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
The Texas-Rice rivalry began in 1914 and has continued without interruption.
- ^ Weldon Hart (October 21, 1941). "Rice-Texas Rivalry Soon to Celebrate 12th Real Birthday, and It's No Genteel Ivy-Clad Business". Austin American-Statesman. p. P11. Retrieved September 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
It remains that Texas-Rice rivalry. In its adult status as reached in 1930, has been full of sound and fury, signifying a genuine grudge
- ^ "More Fuel Heaped on Blaze of Rice-Texas Grid Rivalry". Austin American-Statesman. October 20, 1938. p. 17. Retrieved September 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
The Rice-Texas series has been one of bitter rivalry since the Owls rose up and bumped off the great '30 Texas team that later won the championship. They repeated in '31 to add fuel to the fire.
- ^ Bill Parker (October 26, 1935). "El Paso Times from el Paso, Texas on October 26, 1935 · 10". El Paso Times. Associated Press. p. 10. Retrieved September 10, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
Blistering rivalry exists between these two teams. Rice must win to retain a chance at the Conference bunting.
- ^ "More Fuel Heaped on Blaze of Rice-Texas Grid Rivalry". Austin American-Statesman. October 16, 1938. p. 17. Retrieved July 31, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "When Rice beat Texas: Oct.16, 1994". Houston Chronicle. September 11, 2015.
After 28 consecutive losses to the Longhorns, and with their long rivalry taking its final steps toward extinction, the Owls pushed the Longhorns around for all the world – or at least all of it wired into ESPN – to see.
- ^ "Winsipedia – Texas Longhorns vs. Rice Owls football series history". Winsipedia.
- ^ "John F. Kennedy Moon Speech – Rice Stadium". NASA. Retrieved March 19, 2018.